WC venues will be ready well before the event: Lorgat

International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat despite admitting that five World Cup venues are yet to be completed, today said that the sub-continent is ready to host the mega-event, starting from February 19.

“Five stadia are still to be completed but there are no alarm bells ringing and I’m sure they will be ready well before the World Cup,” Lorgat told in a press conference here today.

According to reports, as many as five grounds, including Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium where the final is scheduled to be played apart from other league stage matches, are still under constructions and organisers have been racing against time to finish the work and get those ready for hosting the matches.

Lorgat, however, expressed confidence as far as security arrangements are concerned, dismissing any suggestion of any kind of possible lapse in that front during the tournament to be hosted jointly by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The ICC chief also claimed that the verdict on the spot-fixing allegations against three Pakistan players —Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir, expected on February 5, would not have any adverse effect on the World Cup.

“There’s some time between when the verdict is released on the fifth of February. We were keen to have it well before the start of the World Cup,” he said.

An anti-corruption tribunal against three Pakistan players ended on Tuesday but no decision was given, instead another hearing has been scheduled for February 5.

The Pakistani trio, who face allegation of spot-fixing for bowling deliberate no-balls in the Lord’s Test during Pakistan’s tour of England last year, were provisionally suspended by the ICC in September 2010.